If you think of any Hollywood heartthrob, they’ll no doubt have appeared in People’s Sexiest Man of the Year issue. From Patrick Dempsey to Idris Elba and (of course) George Clooney, it’s pretty much the male equivalent of making Victoria’s Secret catwalk.

But while there have been plenty of uncontentious choices since the awards kicked off in 1985 (Mel Gibson was the first recipient, FYI), some of People’s picks have raised a few eyebrows. A sixty-year-old Sean Connery (1989) wasn’t the most crowd-pleasing selection; nor was country music star Blake Shelton in 2017 (one X user wrote: ‘Blake Shelton is People’s Sexiest Man Alive because apparently Idris Elba, Chris Evans and Jason Momoa fell off the planet last night’).

But few inclusions have caused as much furore as last night’s reveal, when People announced Selena Gomez’s boyfriend, Benny Blanco, would feature in the 2024 list. While it’s not yet been confirmed whether the record producer has secured the esteemed number one slot, the magazine feature about him is pretty gushing.

In his People interview, Blanco – who’s been dating Selena since 2023 – is described as ‘redefining masculinity while embracing chivalry’. Under the headline ‘He cooks. He hosts. He woos,’ Blanco is photographed lying on a table in a three-piece suit with a plate of pizza, preparing a margarita by the pool, and, most randomly, sitting on a plush bed in patterned pyjama bottoms cuddling a teddy. Hot!

Safe to say, the internet had thoughts... 

Others suggested his girlfriend, Selena, might be more deserving of People's sexiest accolade... 

And others gave shout outs to their favourite male heartthrobs, suggesting they'd been 'snubbed' for the shock pick... 

Ultimately, we're not sure who'll bag People's top spot for 2024 (we'll update this page when the news comes in). One thing that is certain, however, is that pretty much any other male celeb would be less controversial than Blanco. In the meantime, we're channelling confused Adele and keeping Paul Mescal in our thoughts.